Skip to main content

An Exciting Change!

We are excited to announce a small but significant change in our ministry.  We have become partners with Christian Educators Outreach (CEO) - a nonprofit organization for the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Please take some time to look at their website - especially their Story, Practice and Core Beliefs section.  The reasons we made the change can be summarized as follows:

5. Connections.  The head of CEO - Tom Foley - has been to Orahovica, met our pastor and his wife, and preached in our church.  He is familiar with how ministry works here.  In fact, he brought a team over 5 years ago to begin English classes in Slatina - the same English classes Jeremy now teaches.  In other words, CEO has already had an influence on our ministry without our knowing it.

4. Finances.  New Europe Vision - our former organization  - was primarily designed to send humanitarian aid to the former-Yugoslavia.  NEV waited until a certain amount of money came in before sending it our way.  That made budgeting and financial planning very difficult for us.  CEO is set up to send your contirbutions to us monthly.

3. Team.  In the past we were the only missionaries supported by New Europe Vision.  While NEV fit our needs at the beginning, there was no existing network within the organization with whom we could exchange ideas, receive advice or be encouraged.  CEO has a network of partners with a similar vision and mission.  We will be attending a CEO conference in the next couple weeks where we'll meet with many of our  new partners. 

2. Flexibility.  We are in a unique situation: Petra is from Croatia, had a preexisting relationship with our church and considered Orahovica home before we ever moved here.  CEO will not dictate how we work, when we return to the States or how much money we raise.  Instead, they will give us the flexibility to decide - with the elders of our church - what our ministry should look like.  Essentially, that means that our practical ministry won't change at all.

1. Mission.  The Bohalls and CEO are on the same page.  Again, please see the Core Beliefs section on CEO's website.  In summary, we will work together to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ "to the ends of the earth". (Acts 1:8b)

One thing we want you to know is that 10% will be taken from every donation to offset CEO's administrative and ministry development costs. While that's an increase, we feel that the advantages listed above wouldn't be possible without a small portion of your support going to CEO.  In other words, we see the 10% as beneficial to our ministry.  If you are interested in supporting us financially, please see the directions in the column on the right hand side of this site. 

Finding an organization like Christian Educators Outreach was something we have been praying for.  CEO was recommended to us by a good friend who recently pastored a church in Croatia.  He, in addition to the other connections we mentioned and the time we've spent talking with Tom Foley have only reinforced the fact that God has opened this door for us.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us. 

In Christ,

Jeremy and Petra Bohall

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chestnuts and Discipleship: A Fall Update

In small town Croatia, picking chestnuts is an autumn staple. Yesterday, I (Jeremy) had the opportunity to take a group of 5th through 7th graders from our church out chestnut picking. We've been meeting weekly ever since the school year started. When I asked what sort of activities they would like to do as a group, chestnut picking was one of the suggestions.  Chestnuts grow inside a very well protected pouch which usually requires a knife to open. Most times there are three chestnuts inside each pouch. Early risers often find a bunch of chestnuts on the ground in the morning, but when we arrived in the afternoon most of them were already opened.  Undeterred, one of us would shake the trees while the rest protected their heads. Once the chestnuts fell the kids raced to open the pouches as quickly as they safely could.  I asked one of my friends at the church to go with us. Božidar (literally "God's gift") led us to a place where there were a lot of ch...

Camp Week 1: Children's Camp

Camps are back!  It's been 5 years and a lot of reconstruction since camps were last in Orahovica, but they are finally underway.  As a way of helping you get a better idea of what camps are like, how we are involved and how you can pray, we will be updating this site once a week with details about each camp.  Camp Week 1: Children's Camp - July 5th through the 10th - Ages 6 through 9 - the requirement is that each child has finished first grade and are able to read and write. - The price of camp is $40. - This year, more than others, fewer people were able to pay the registration fee.  The camp policy is to accept everyone and usually outside donations help to cover the cost of paying for the kids who can't.  This year we were in the minus to start camps, but during the second day of camp someone donated money to pay for 16 kids who were unable to which turned out to be the exact amount needed to erase the deficit.  Praise the Lord! - Please pray:...

Partners for the Gospel

I am so grateful for the two men of God that flank me in the picture below. Tom (my right) is making his biannual trip to Europe and preached in Đakovo yesterday. Danijel (my left) pastors the local church in Đakovo. I've written about both of them before so I'll limit this post to what I experienced yesterday.  The local church in Đakovo is growing. Danijel and his wife Tijana moved here 17 years ago and took over a church of fewer than 10 people - most of whom were older that 60 years old. This is a typical scenerio in eastern Croatia. Today, the church in Đakovo is teeming with children running around and babies being held during the service. It's truly beautiful to see the ways in which the Lord has blessed Danijel and Tijana's "long obedience in the same direction". Tom preached from Luke 8 and reminded the congregation about the importance of trusting the Lord in the midst of difficult times. He emphasized "marvel" and contemplation during ti...